Last week I wrote a post on 5 things that may be clues you have Lyme disease. This week I’m coming at it from the opposite direction and talking about 3 things you may never have had (but still have Lyme disease). There are so many misconceptions around Lyme disease, including its diagnosis and treatment, and some of the historical factors. So read on for these 3 things and let’s try to clear some of it up.

Lyme disease is the fastest-growing vector-borne disease in the Unites States, and I suspect in the world too. While it is getting to be more well known, there are still many health professionals who do not recognize Lyme disease as a possible cause of multiple and diverse health issues. Couple that with not-sensitive-enough first line testing, and we have a health crisis that is reaching epidemic proportions, and a lot of people suffering because they are not being properly diagnosed. If Lyme is something that you’ve vaguely heard of somewhere along the line, but you’re not sure if it could be the cause of your health problems, here are five clues that you might have Lyme disease: [Read more…]

The nervous system is our main link to the environment that we are living in. Our nervous system has the ability to receive input, interpret it, and then respond to it accordingly. When the nervous system isn’t balanced, we often experience this as stress and anxiety. The nervous system is made of three main components, being the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system, and the autonomic nervous system. Although they are all intimately connected, for calming the nervous system we will be focusing on the components of the autonomic nervous system and how they translate into our everyday lives. [Read more…]

Reactions to foods are increasingly common it seems, with a large portion of the population experiencing some reactivity or sensitivity. There are several distinct types of food reactions, so I’m going to outline food allergy versus food intolerance to help distinguish. Often in Western medical circles, only a true food allergy is recognized, whereas many reactions may not fall into that category and ignoring other sensitivities can lead to ongoing symptoms that could be avoided.

It is extremely common in our culture to have unhealthy levels of anxiety and stress. A large component of this stress/anxiety can be attributes to holding onto tension. Tension is something that our bodies create as a safety mechanism when some sort of negative stimulus is presented. This fear response puts your body into a guarded state. Although this contracted energy state is helpful in an acute situation, it is not a state that should continue after the stimulus is removed. Unfortunately, in our culture, we are often pressured to put our fears and anxieties “behind us”, without truly processing and releasing this contracted energy. [Read more…]

I was asked the other day about when and how to supplement progesterone – should it be taken all month long, or just for part of the month? And what about progesterone-building herbs? All month long or just part of the month? I thought I’d explain how I recommend doing it in case anyone else had that same question.

Heavy metal toxicity is an issue that exists alongside many other health conditions and diagnoses. Many of my autistic-spectrum patients have heavy metal toxicity, many of my Lyme disease patients have heavy metal toxicity, but I would bet that many people without any official diagnosis have high levels of heavy metals in their bodies that may be affecting their neurological function. With the pollution surrounding us today, heavy metals are a part of the environment. Reversing heavy metal toxicity can provide a massive boost in one’s overall health levels.

Leaky gut is a condition that involves changes in the integrity of digestive tract, compromising its function and immune protection. It has a variety of different causes, but it is clear that eating gluten can contribute to leaky gut via increasing the production of a substance called zonulin.

Testing for Lyme disease can be problematic. Tests are often not as sensitive as they need to be; and false negatives can occur. This is one of the reasons that Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis based on history and symptoms, to be backed up by lab work (not purely based 100% on lab results). A negative Lyme test does not always mean the absence of Lyme disease. Now there is a new Lyme disease test that is helping us to get a more accurate diagnosis of Lyme.

I came across this recipe yesterday for a Chocolate Banana Matcha Smoothie and thought it was just too good not to share! I can’t take credit for it – it was posted by Sanus Biotech, a company that makes a neurotransmitter support formulation to help balance brain chemistry called Synaptamine. The ingredients in this smoothie are ones that support dopamine production, one of our brain chemicals that helps with memory, balanced mood, alertness and feelings of contentment and pleasure. These ingredients are also great antioxidants too. [Read more…]